Uinta Brewing Company Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Uinta Brewing Company Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale. In keeping with a fall or Halloween theme I plan to review all of the pumpkin beers I can get my hands on. I’ve been trolling the local stores in search of new pumpkin beers and low and behold I found Uinta’s. Last time I was in Utah I failed to visit them (made it to Squatters Brewery, Wasatch Brew Pub and Brewery, Desert Edge Brewery and Red Rock Brewing Company) so I was happy to find a six pack of their seasonal to give it a try.

From the Uinta Brewing Company website:” Harvest the flavors of fall with a bottle opener and a stroll down the craft-brewed beer aisle. Four+ Punk’n Ale is the pick of the crop with notes of roasted pumpkin and seasonal spices. Savory. Crisp. The sweetness is in the celebration, not on the palate.

TASTING NOTES:

Malt and hops accented with roasted pumpkin and spices of the season. A subtle hint of vanilla and honey. Punk'n is a wonderful compliment to foods with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove flavors. Try it with roasted turkey, squash or pumpkin ravioli, peach cobbler, or pumpkin cheesecake.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a reddish copper with a small white head and good lacing.

Aroma: Pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Cinnamon and nutmeg are up front followed by allspice.

Taste: Light, sweet and tasty. Caramel malts, allspice, vanilla, nutmeg and a large amount of cinnamon.

Overall: Well balanced and really low ABV (4% ABV) make this beer an incredibly easy beer to session. It may not be my first choice of pumpkin beers, but it is certainly worth trying and keeping around this time of year.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Punkin Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Punkin Ale. In keeping with a fall or Halloween theme I plan to review all of the pumpkin beers I can get my hands on. Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale is one of my seasonal favorites and I typically purchase a few four packs each season.

From the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery website: “A full-bodied brown ale with smooth hints of pumpkin and brown sugar. We brew our Punkin Ale with pumpkin meat, organic brown sugar and spices. This is the perfect beer to warm-up with, as the season cools.

Punkin Ale is named after a locally-famous and seriously off-centered event here in southern Delaware - Punkin Chunkin (check out some of these Discovery Channel videos of Punkin Chunkin, you gotta see it to believe it!). In fact, Punkin Ale made it's debut as it claimed First Prize in the 1994 Punkin Chunkin Recipe Contest - yes, that was a full 6 months before we even opened our doors for business. Punkin Chunkin has grown in size and scale with pumpkins now being hurled more than 4,000 feet through the air! If you come down to see if for yourself - come by and visit us.
Since then, we've brewed Punkin Ale each and every fall. It is released right around September first each year. When you find it, grab some extra because it's usually gone by Thanksgiving.”

Every Beer Has A Story - here's Punkin Ale:

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a brownish orange with a nice white head and decent lacing.

Aroma: Pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon (of course, it is written on the label, but there’s no false advertising here). Smells like a pumpkin pie – so delicious!

Taste: Like eating pumpkin pie with an excellent brown ale chaser. Caramel malts, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, brown sugar and a touch of alcohol. Tastes as good as it smells!

Overall: Dessert in a bottle, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Punkin Ale is easy drinking and excellent for the fall season. At 7% ABV you can knock a few back without completely losing control. Well balanced, rich, delicious and perfect for an autumn night. As usual, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery does it again!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Lost Coast Brewery 8-Ball Stout

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Lost Coast Brewery 8-Ball Stout. I have long enjoyed a good stout and lucky for me Lost Coast brews a GREAT stout. Since I've reviewed several of their offerings I thought perhaps a little Lost Coast history lesson was in order (thanks Wikipedia) "Lost Coast Brewery is a rare instance of a female-owned microbrewery breaking into the male dominated microbrew world. Groom, a pharmacist, and Pound, a family counselor, began experimenting with the idea of starting their own pub in 1986. Following years of planning, home brewing, and visiting pubs in England and Wales, Groom and Pound purchased the Pythian Castle in 1989. The building went under restoration to house the pub and cafe after being purchased from the original owners, the Fraternal Order of the Knights of Pythias. Lost Coast Brewery pub and cafe is family owned and operated and has been open for business since July 1990. The brewery outgrew its origins in Pythian's Castle and moved to a larger building further down Highway 101 in 2005. As the 46th largest brewery in the US, Lost Coast Brewery is expected to produce 30,000 barrels despite only distributing in 19 states". 
From the Lost Coast Brewery website: “Not for the faint hearted! Our stout rewards the palate with robust flavor of roasted malts (malts are roasted like coffee beans) and heavy hops. A creamy smooth surprise.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours jet black with a dense creamy light brown head and a little lacing.

Aroma: Chocolate, roasted malts and coffee with the smallest hint of hops. It smells incredible!

Taste: Tastes like it smells with chocolate taking a predominant role followed by roasted malts and coffee. Finishes with a touch of hop bitterness. Such a well crafted beer!

Overall: Lost Coast Brewery 8-Ball Stout is an exceptional stout. At 5.5% ABV it is very drinkable. If you’re a fan of the style, Lost Coast Brewery 8-Ball Stout is a MUST TRY. I assure you...you’ll be back for more!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Lagunitas Brewing Company Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Bavarian-Styled Doppel Weizen.  I get stoked when I hear there’s a new Lagunitas product on the market.  I started calling around and no one had it.  I stopped by Mission Liquors in Fremont and Evan said it was going to come in and sure enough they got it before anyone else.  So I made the drive over to Mission Liquors to pick up a few bottles (to get me started).

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website:” A Brand-Spankin' New Beer Inspired by Rolec: The Builders of our New Brewing System. They Sent Us a Traditional Yeast Sent From Their Friends in Bavaria & We Way-Overfed It To Take It All Up A Bit!

And…from the beer label:” In far-away 2006, in a beer hall in Philly, at the end of a long road, we shared our first beer with a Friestat Bayern Brewer enharmonically named Wolfgang. At stake, over a Prima Pils, was whether or not Lagunitas would purchase from him a new 80bbl brewhouse. It was a lot of money. Playing Silenus to my Brewery’s chariot, together- with the benefit of the Pils- we forded the emotional-economic crevasse and commissioned the brewhouse. Unforeseeable at the time would be the need for even more brewing capacity today in extra-local 2011. So, for the sixth time in our short history, we lurch down that increasingly familiar road towards a new 250 barrel brewhouse. The actual installation, beginning in November, will bear a strong resemblance to a heart transplant, on an awake patient, performed on the backside of a galloping horse, or at very least in tow behind Dionysus’ trustworthy Silenus. Some is good, more is better. The good news is; it’s still us.”

And now a word from Lagunitas…

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy honey color with a thin white head and great lacing.

Aroma: Bananas and spice (cloves) dominate.  Smells like a hefewiezen.  Slight hop and malt scents are present.

Taste: Like the aroma – sweet banana, wheat, mild cloves with a sweet finish that’s really nice.  This beer makes me think of the fall…and I love the fall.

Overall: Very enjoyable and at 9% ABV a dangerous beer.  I’m very happy I tracked a few bottles down as this is the perfect beer to usher in the new season.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale. As I’ve said before, Buffalo Bill's Brewery is the closest brew pub to my house and I feel REALLY fortunate to have such a fantastic place so close to home. I’ve been a huge fan of their pumpkin ale and fall starts for me with my first pint of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery Pumpkin Ale (and I always like fall to come early and often). Since today is the official first day of fall I figured it was fitting to post this.
From the Buffalo Bill’s Brewery website: “America’s Original Pumpkin Ale – From Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale is one of the most sought after seasonal beers. It is believed that George Washington brewed beer using this bright orange squash. In modern times, Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale is a true original microbrew that uses baked and roasted pumpkin. Cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are added to create what has been described as, “pumpkin pie in a bottle”.”

And since I brewed my first batch of Pumpkin ale this year, I thought I’d add a little something I found from Geoff Harries of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery about brewing their pumpkin ale, “Brewer: Geoff Harries of Buffalo Bill’s Brewery in Hayward, California. Geoff homebrewed from 1981 to 1987. He became the head brewer at Buffalo Bill’s from '87 to '89, then the GM and head brewer at Brewpub on the Green from '90 to '93. He bought Buffalo Bill’s and is now the owner and head brewer - " Our pumpkin beer is brewed at several locations for us, but one definite rule is that we always use fresh, whole pumpkins. The kinds vary depending on the season and what is ripe, but we like to use Atlantic Giants and Big Macs. Both are jumbo in size and have lots of fiber. Especially the fiber makes for easier mashing.
We roast the pumpkins, since a raw pumpkin is really nothing but a squash and if you try to use them raw, nothing comes out of them. Roasting converts some of the starch inside the pumpkin, and lets us extract sugars and sweetness. We cook them to the point where they’re kind of done—maybe a little brown around the edges, just when they are starting to caramelize. But we don’t want them turned to mush. Since pumpkins come in all different sizes, cooking times will vary. Once they are ready we cut them open and pull out the seeds.

For six-and-a-half barrels, we use about thirty pounds of pumpkins, though this will depend greatly on the pumpkin. This is a bit more than one-half pound for a five gallon batch, but once you start brewing you’ll realize you don’t want that much pumpkin anyway. Remember, this is a beer, not a vegetable beer. The pumpkin is there to complement the malts, not take them over. Besides, too much pumpkin makes for a tough sparge.
We always experiment with the base beer, but it’s generally a red ale/amber beer. We are looking for something with an orange to red hue. All the color in the beer comes from the malt. None comes from the pumpkin.
We go through the standard sparge. We have had trouble with this stage in the past, and what we have discovered is if you overcook the pumpkin it gets all mushy and causes the stuck mash. So, it’s important to not over roast.
Hops should be low-key. Be subtle, just to balance the malt sweetness. You don’t want the beer to be bitter. Think pumpkin pie in a glass, and shoot for that flavor profile. The dominant character will be the up front malt flavor, followed by a finish that highlight the spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. And speaking of spices, we use whole spice. This year we’ll put them in a big sparge bag, and then hang them in the conditioning tanks, after the boil. This is the way to get that nice, spiced character because it’s kind of like dry-hopping."

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a deep, dark orange with a nice white head and mild lacing.

Aroma: Smells like Halloween (or Thanksgiving) with pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and just a touch of caramel malt in the distance.

Taste: “Pumpkin pie in a bottle” is right. Tastes like the holidays with all the noted spices (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and perhaps allspice) as well as pumpkin. Malt and hops are there, but are balanced perfectly to allow the spice shine through.

Overall: I’ve said it many times…I love this beer. Pumpkin Ales aren’t for everyone (I know), but for me the complexities of Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale is what makes this so drinkable. Smooth, creamy, spiced just right and light enough to drink all night. At 5.2% this beer is perfect to enjoy throughout a nice holiday meal without getting too loopy in front of guests.

I had the chance to enjoy my first pint on September 9th. This beer is fantastic on tap.  If you can go to Buffalo Bill's in Hayward (or find it on tap) I highly recommend that you do!

I am eagerly awaiting their Imperial Pumpkin Ale a 9.8% ABV MONSTER (photo to the left is me enjoying my first glass of it last year). They had intended on bottling it, but at this point I’ve not heard. If they do…look out…I’m buying CASES!







I love seeing displays of Buffalo Bill's Brewery Pumpkin Ale when I’m out and about. I found this one at Cost Plus World Market. Good price on the beer too ($6.99 a six pack). Pick some up! You’ll be glad you did!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Firestone Walker Brewing Company Solace Summertime Fusion Wheat Beer

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Firestone Walker Brewing Company Solace Summertime Fusion Wheat Beer.  In keeping with the end of summer theme (and start of fall) I figured I had better get to reviewing beers I’ve been drinking over the summer.  My beginnings with Firestone Walker beers was a mixed 12-pack that contained Solace (and others) and prior to that I hadn’t paid much attention to their beers.  Since then I’ve come a fan and plan to review some of their other offerings.

From the Firestone Walker Brewing Company website:” Firestone Walker presents Solace, an ode to warmer weather in the northern hemisphere. A hint of citrus fruit and clove aroma are followed by tangy dry malt flavor and a silky finish making it an approachable and refreshing session beer. We bring you this beer unfettered, a craftily unfiltered ale full of flavor and perfectly constructed to compliment those lazy warm days ahead. Ideal for washing down fish tacos or other south o’ the border-inspired dishes.

REMEMBER: Watch for bottled on dates located on the necks of our beers.  Our beer is not pasteurized, so it is best when stored at 44F or below, out of light and within 110 days of the bottled on date...this insures freshness and ultimately a great Firestone Walker beer!”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy goldish pale orange with a nice white head and minimal lacing.

Aroma: Scents of banana, citrus, spices, bready malts and grain.  Reminds me of a hefeweizen.

Taste: Nicely balanced. Wheat, malt, banana, apricot, citrus, spice and light on the hops.  Very refreshing!

Overall: At 6% ABV Firestone Walker Brewing Company Solace Summertime Fusion Wheat Beer is tremendously drinkable and perfect for a summer BBQ. I’m sure my review is a little late for you to pick up a six so be sure to watch for this in the spring or summer of 2012.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Lagunitas Brewing Company Little Sumpin’ Wild

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Little Sumpin’ Wild. I believe I have amply sung the praises of Lagunitas Brewing Company in past posts, so I’ll just get onto the review.

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website: “Another Big Sister of the Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale.... Loads of Malted Wheat for a Curious Malt Foundation and a Light Color, But Our Belgian Yeast Leaves a Huge Flavor and Complexishness.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a golden reddish amber with a slightly off white head, excellent retention and lacing.

Aroma: Wonderful bread notes with sweet malts and yeast. Amazing citrus fruit hops and lighter pine and floral hops. This beer smells incredible.

Taste: Great flavor – balanced and complex with floral and citrus hops up front and a slight malt sweetness back end.

Overall: At 9.4% ABV this beer is WAY too easy to knock back. Since its release I have picked up numerous six packs and will continue to do so until they’re out. Complex, smooth and extremely drinkable, pick some up. You’ll be glad you did!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Festina Peche

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Festina Peche. I like to “beer shop” and tend to purchase nearly every beer Dogfish Head brews. When I saw Festina Peche I was a little reluctant (low ABV and high price), but I thought what the heck…I’ll pick up a four pack for the sake of trying and possibly reviewing.

From the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery website:” A refreshing neo-Berliner Weisse fermented with honest-to-goodness peaches to (get this!) 4.5% ABV! Because extreme beers don't have to be extremely boozy! Available in 4-pack and draft during the sweaty months.

Sadly, there are only a few breweries left in Berlin still brewing the Berliner Weisse style which is characterized by its intense tartness (some say sour). There were once over 70 breweries in Berlin alone making this beer! In addition to fermentation with an ale yeast, Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Poured a hazy gold color with a very fluffy white head, nice retention and some sticky lacing.

Aroma: Light peach aroma mixed with wheat and yeast and a touch of lemon. Very pleasant.

Taste: Subtle peach presence with a tart lemon and faint apple character. Perfect wheat aftertaste.

Overall: Incredibly drinkable and light bodied, at 4.5% ABV Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Festina Peche is a very sessionable beer. Perfect Summer beer…get some before it is all over and risk waiting for next year!

Cheers,

Mark Harvey